Metro-North's Port Jervis signalization project begins

A new signal system is being installed on the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North Railroad's Port Jervis Line that will increase safety and more efficiently control train speed.

Installation of a new cab signal system, at an estimated cost of $67 million, is part of the railroad's ongoing effort to bring its entire infrastructure into a state of good repair. The project will replace the existing wayside system and renew 10 interlockings and four grade crossings from Suffern, N.Y. to Port Jervis, N.Y., which is about 66 miles.

"This upgrade to cab signals will bring the line up to the modern standards in place across the railroad and will improve the ride for all Port Jervis customers," said Metro-North President Howard Permut.

The design of the new cab signal system was done by Systra/AECOM Joint Venture during the past couple of years as part of Metro-North's federally-mandated Positive Train Control (PTC) design contract. The new cab signal system being installed is not PTC, but is PTC-ready. Within in the $67 million budgeted for Port Jervis signalization project is $12 million for the application of PTC, which will be a separate contract.

A $22.36 million construction contract for the civil work on the Port Jervis Line (including digging foundations for the installation of the signal houses and cases and installation of cable, etc.) was awarded in July 2012 to Ducci Electrical Contractors Inc., of Torrington, CT.

A $13.9 million contract to supply cases and signal houses for the Port Jervis Line was approved recently by the Metro-North committee of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Alstom Signaling Inc. will do the work. (The same contract includes an additional $2.3 million for signal work on the Waterbury Branch in Connecticut and $1.8 million for a new interlocking on the Harlem Line between Fordham and Botanical Garden stations.)

The entire $67 million Port Jervis signalization project, including PTC, is scheduled for completion in December 2015.